Ryan Gets A Shellacking

In the end it was not a contest. Not even close. Of course, CNN, Fox 5 and all the instant polling types said that it was a draw, a tie or the Republican Vice Presidential candidate won. I'm talking about the recent Vice Presidential Debate.   Vice President Joe Biden was "ole Smokin' Joe" taking the fight to GOP Veep candidate, Paul Ryan, who looked lost at times. The guy was no match for a hyped up Biden who delivered a blistering set of verbal blows to his younger challenger.

But, the punditocracy and debate experts were not satisfied. Boy, these guys are hard to please. So at the end of the debate nary a word about the mountain of lies, half-truths and stupidity that came forth from Paul Ryan's mouth. And Vice President Biden? Hear them: He laughed and smiled too much; he interrupted too much -- 82 times; he was rolling his eyes; he was grinning and smirking too much".blah, blah, blah. On and on, ad infinitum.

So now we judge debates only by PERFORMANCE standards and they must confirm to what the media says those standards are. To them, Joe Biden lost because he smiled too much and attacked too much and interrupted Ryan too much. For the edification of all: A debate is a method of interactive and representational argument. But scratch that. All over the place Republicans are shouting at the top of their lungs that Biden was rude, smirky and obnoxious. And how he interrupted too much.

What are these guys yakking about? Listening to them you would think that this was a sermonizing contest with the Almighty. Damn it, it's a debate and the objective is to win by convincing arguments backed up by facts. Rhetoric is about persuasion. But more than that a debate is a mental contest. In short, you have to psychologically upset and unbalance your opponent with body language, words and reaction to statements.

Biden did just that. Its debate tactics and strategy 101. And Republicans are now howling about how he was disrespectful. To whom? To Paul Ryan? The same man who called hardworking Americans moochers? The same guy who supports his boss's 47 percent insult? The same guy who routinely insults women by supporting a bill that would redefine rape and who opposes abortion even in cases of incest and rape?

So if you're a Republican like Mitt Romney you get to interrupt the President of the United States, lie to the American people 27 times in 38 minutes on national television, and rudely jab your finger at President Obama time and time again and that's all right. You stand and smile when the president is speaking and it's a smile, not a smirk.

But ole "Smokin' Joe" Biden was not about to let old, tired lies and half-truths, and GOP talking points go unanswered. And Republicans don't like that. However, I liked this one. Biden called out Paul Ryan, who has consistently criticized President Obama's stimulus package. Ryan is on record calling it "crony capitalism." Biden exposed his utter hypocrisy and lies on national television saying that Ryan wrote two letters asking for a share of stimulus dollars for companies in his district in Wisconsin -- while he was publicly criticizing President Obama's stimulus package to save the economy.

Ryan's answer? An unintelligible, tortured response. But I like it better how Joe Biden summed it up: "I love that," Biden went on. "I love that. This was such a bad program and he writes me a letter saying --­­ writes the Department of Energy a letter saying: "The reason we need this stimulus, it will create growth and jobs.' His words. And now he's sitting here looking at me."

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